1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to load control systems, and more specifically to a method and apparatus for reducing running time of a load, such as an air compressor or furnace, to achieve a power consumption reduction.
2. Background Art
As the cost of energy continues to rise, heating and cooling a home has become a complicated activity. When natural gas, heating oil and electric power were plentiful and inexpensive, one may simply have set the thermostat on 78 in the summer and 68 in the winter to adequately heat and cool a house. Under such a plan, they may only touch the thermostat twice in a year.
The process of supplying energy has become more complex as well. With deregulation of various utilities, suppliers of energy have less input regarding the interaction of the various components of the overall system. For example, while once a single company controlled generation, transmission, and distribution, today each function may be controlled by a different entity.
While divesture and competition helps the consumer regarding price, without proper coordination between the various entities, problems can arise. For example, on a hot summer day, consumers may demand unusually large amounts of energy to cool their homes. While generators may be able to deliver this energy, if the transmission system is not configured to handle such large quantities of energy, failures, including blackouts, can occur.
There is thus a need for a system and method for a control device to be able to monitor a load so as to provide load control based upon energy consumption criteria. It would be advantageous if such a method and system would provide a number of kilowatts, for example, of demand relief rather than a certain number of minutes of appliance control or a certain number of minutes relative to previous appliance run time.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.